Newbflat
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- Joined
- Nov 11, 2015
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So I just got a brand-new 240mm Masamoto Swedish Gyuto and hear my initial observations. I was under the assumption that the Swedish version of this knife was the same as the carbon version. Maybe it is the same as the new versions of the KS but I have an old KS and it's not the same. Compared to my old Masamoto KS 240 it's not as nice of a grind. It does not have as fine a distal taper as the carbon Masamoto and the grind on the blade is less asymmetric. It's almost an even grind on both sides, actually it's almost a lefty. Profile is the same as far as I can tell.
You can see in the photos that my carbon Masamoto has seen some sharpening. This is a knife I bought on a different forum a number of years ago that came not as advertised. It was advertised as near new only sharpened a couple of times, but when it arrived it had been sharpened horribly and when you put the edge on the board it had been sharpened with a profound hollow of nearly 1/8th inch. To make a long story short the seller wouldn't take it back, and the website moderator ended up banning the guy...... Now, after a good bit of time on the stone it's a bit narrower. More a long funayuki now..... But I digress.
I can't get a good photo of the flatness of both sides on the Swedish . After putting a straightedge on it a number of times I'm going to say it's a touch lefty... ie: there is more curve to the left hand side of the knife than the right. Not really profound but it's there. Nothing like my old Masamoto KS that is clearly asymmetric and for a right handed person.
The distal taper is different. The older carbon Masamoto tapers nicely all along it's length evenly and ending with a long thin tip, It has what I consider true distal taper. The new Swedish Masamoto's tip (last 3 inches or so) is not as fine and looks and feels like there is no real distal taper, only the natural taper you get when you drop the topline/spine into a thinner part of the blade. This is not what I consider distal taper. It's just not as fine in that last 3 inches as the older carbon blade and especially the last 2 inches. It's not thick, but not as thin and elegant of a taper that comes with true distal tapering. Very disappointed about this. I think there is some distal taper when I compare it to something like my 240 Tanaka VG-10 that is just stamped out of a pre laminated plate and ground to profile. But comparing it to my 240 Hiro-Shiro or my Ittosai honyaki or its carbon KS older brother it's clearly not that true of a distal taper.
Despite the taper issues and asymmetry oddness the edge is thin with two tiny reasonably well ground bevels. Both knives have a slight curve to the left. The tip is about 1/8th inch off the board when the blade is flat on the board on its right side.
In the end it's going back. Both of the things I was looking for ie: true distal taper and clear right handed grind are just not there. It really bummed me out as it was a good price and I really like the KS shape. So, back on the trail to find a stainless Gyuto.
Sorry about the photos but all all I have is a phone at the moment.
Hard to tell the thickness diffrence in this photo but it's there. The shiny one is the 'Swedish'.
The thickness of the new Swedish at the calipers and the same thickness on the KS... And remember the KS is about 1/4 of an inch shorter at the tip.
The thinness at the edge is good.
You can see in the photos that my carbon Masamoto has seen some sharpening. This is a knife I bought on a different forum a number of years ago that came not as advertised. It was advertised as near new only sharpened a couple of times, but when it arrived it had been sharpened horribly and when you put the edge on the board it had been sharpened with a profound hollow of nearly 1/8th inch. To make a long story short the seller wouldn't take it back, and the website moderator ended up banning the guy...... Now, after a good bit of time on the stone it's a bit narrower. More a long funayuki now..... But I digress.
I can't get a good photo of the flatness of both sides on the Swedish . After putting a straightedge on it a number of times I'm going to say it's a touch lefty... ie: there is more curve to the left hand side of the knife than the right. Not really profound but it's there. Nothing like my old Masamoto KS that is clearly asymmetric and for a right handed person.
The distal taper is different. The older carbon Masamoto tapers nicely all along it's length evenly and ending with a long thin tip, It has what I consider true distal taper. The new Swedish Masamoto's tip (last 3 inches or so) is not as fine and looks and feels like there is no real distal taper, only the natural taper you get when you drop the topline/spine into a thinner part of the blade. This is not what I consider distal taper. It's just not as fine in that last 3 inches as the older carbon blade and especially the last 2 inches. It's not thick, but not as thin and elegant of a taper that comes with true distal tapering. Very disappointed about this. I think there is some distal taper when I compare it to something like my 240 Tanaka VG-10 that is just stamped out of a pre laminated plate and ground to profile. But comparing it to my 240 Hiro-Shiro or my Ittosai honyaki or its carbon KS older brother it's clearly not that true of a distal taper.
Despite the taper issues and asymmetry oddness the edge is thin with two tiny reasonably well ground bevels. Both knives have a slight curve to the left. The tip is about 1/8th inch off the board when the blade is flat on the board on its right side.
In the end it's going back. Both of the things I was looking for ie: true distal taper and clear right handed grind are just not there. It really bummed me out as it was a good price and I really like the KS shape. So, back on the trail to find a stainless Gyuto.
Sorry about the photos but all all I have is a phone at the moment.
Hard to tell the thickness diffrence in this photo but it's there. The shiny one is the 'Swedish'.
The thickness of the new Swedish at the calipers and the same thickness on the KS... And remember the KS is about 1/4 of an inch shorter at the tip.
The thinness at the edge is good.
